In recent years, opportunities for viewing video content using a personal computer display having a resolution exceeding a standard-resolution video (standard-definition [SD] video: 480×480 to 720×480) are increasing. Along with prevalence of high-definition broadcasting, television receivers compatible with a quasi-high-resolution video (1440×1080) and high-resolution video (full high-definition [full HD] video: 1920×1080) are in widespread use at home. An up-conversion technique for converting an SD video of, e.g., DVD video or a quasi-high-resolution video of, e.g., terrestrial digital broadcasting into a high-resolution video has been proposed accordingly.
Jpn. Pat. Appln. KOKAI Publication No. 2001-189851 (reference 1) discloses an image processing apparatus which can obtain a high-quality image without causing any interpolation blur or jaggies upon converting a low-resolution image into a high-resolution image. Even when artificially created characters, line images, and the like exist together with a natural image in a single image, this image processing apparatus can generate an image which reproduces the edges of character and line image portions and suppresses interpolation blur of the natural image portion.
An actually captured video which is captured using a video camera often suffers from image blur caused by the properties of the imaging element and lenses, and a technique for efficiently reducing such image blur is demanded.
Such image blur does not occur in all video content. Video content of, e.g., television broadcast programs includes video of different nature. For example, video content (actually captured video content) based on actually captured video and that (graphics video content) based on animation or CG are included. As is known, no image blur occurs in graphics video content. Hence, image blur correction need not be applied to graphics video content.